I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to transmission techniques for peer-to-peer communication.
II. Background
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be capable of supporting communication for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Examples of such wireless networks include wireless wide area networks (WWANs), wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), and wireless local area networks (WLANs).
A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations that can support communication for a number of terminals. Each base station may transmit pilot and system information, which may allow terminals to detect and acquire that base station. A terminal may access the network via a base station and may communicate with the base station.
A terminal may also be able to communicate peer-to-peer with other terminals. When the terminal is first powered up or just moves into a new area, the terminal may not know which other terminals are present. The terminal may perform a discovery process, which may entail (i) transmitting a peer discovery signal to announce the presence of the terminal to other terminals and (ii) receiving peer discovery signals from other terminals to ascertain their presence. It is desirable to efficiently perform discovery.